1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a clip, and particularly to a clip which can readily and conveniently mount a large heat sink to an electronic component adjacent which a plurality of electronic components is located.
2. Related Art
As computer technology continues to advance, electronic components of computers are being made to provide faster operational speeds and greater functional capabilities. When an electronic component operates at high speed in a computer enclosure, its temperature can increase greatly. It is desirable to dissipate the generated heat quickly, for example by using a heat sink attached to the electronic component in the enclosure. This allows the electronic component in the enclosure to function within their normal operating temperature ranges, thereby assuring the quality of data management, storage and transfer. Oftentimes, a clip is required for mounting the heat sink to the electronic component.
A wide variety of heat dissipating devices and clips are available in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,940 discloses a kind of clip for mounting a heat sink to an electronic package. The clip comprises a cylindrical top, a shaft and a compressible point. A spring is disposed around the shaft. In assembly, the point extends through aligned two holes in the heat sink and a printed circuit board and compresses as it passes into two holes and flexes back to an expanded position after it exits the printed circuit board hole thereby holding the heat sink to the board with the electronic component therebetween.
However, with electronic components operating more and more fast the electronic components generate more and more heat. Heat dissipation efficiency of heat sinks are therefore required more and more high. One method to increase heat dissipation efficiency of a heat sink is to increase volume of the heat sink. Location of mounting holes of the heat sink is therefore changed. Since a plurality of electronic components is mounted on the circuit board it is inconvenient to change location of the mounting holes of the circuit board to fit the heat sink which has a large size and has mounting holes not aligned with the mounting holes of the circuit board. This results in inconveniency of using the heat sink having a large size.